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Holiday Blues

November 11th, 2009 | Related Articles

Azeroth has a number of holiday events, most of them parallels of real-life festivals and celebrations from numerous cultures and religions. We are once again presented with the emulation of the Halloween holiday, with its omnipresent pumpkins, silly costumes, and tooth-rotting sweets. This, like most Warcraft holidays, is a light-hearted festival whose significance is probably lost on most of the setting’s dedicated heroes, be they players or lore figures.

But between the buckets of candy and the ridiculous masks, what does this holiday mean to your character? Admittedly, not everyone is going to appreciate or even recognize the fact that Hallow’s End is something fun in the middle of so much war and death. Certainly, the Lich King isn’t going around trick or treating; he’s still out there, awaiting his final judgment and probably considering how best to take advantage of everyone running around dressed in magical ghost costumes.

For all the silliness that tends to accompany Hallow’s End, there is a real danger posed by one of its iconic mischievous spirits. I, of course, refer to the Headless Horseman, who appears near those towns which first sheltered us during our characters’ careers and sets them ablaze. Seemingly unable to be permanently vanquished, he returns each year with his arsenal of pumpkin soldiers, bad rhyming, and an obnoxious laugh.

Now, the first reaction from most people would be to chalk this down to another repeating game event that has no function in roleplaying or in our character’s story. This is a mistake. As a roleplayer, you are better served allowing yourself to be affected by the happenings in the setting, no matter how silly you may think them to be.

Think of it all from your character’s point of view. Sit inside their head for a while and look at the holiday from their perspective. A brusque, no-nonsense soldier might scoff at the whole deal and allow up-and-coming recruits to handle the “threat” posed by the Headless Horseman, keeping their own attention focused on the war in the north. The overly-obsessive gnomish engineer, on the other hand, could very well spend days at a time studying the Horseman during his infernal flights trying to figure out all the possible applications of a removable head that acts independently of the body.

And of course, Hallow’s End isn’t all about the Horseman. While simple masks might do little more than incite laughter (or anger, if you’re the race in question being mocked), the magical costumes could be used a little more maliciously. With the war against the Lich King drawing to a close, who is to say that he might not send an army of ghosts under our noses to assassinate key targets organizing the efforts against him? How appropriate is it to wear ghost costumes when such an occurrence is a very real possibility?

A scrupulous individual might be suspicious about those using costume wands. When you’ve been to the Wrathgate, or faced down countless undead in Icecrown, these happenings might be very jarring for you. Looking upon Hallow’s End as a common civilian is one thing, but when your life is spent fighting horrible undead minions and evil spirits, you might question the whole event’s point. Of course, there’s also the other perspective; it’s easier to face such enemies when you can laugh at their festive representations and rot holes in your teeth eating candy in the process.

Rather than write off the whole of Hallow’s End as just another MMORPG holiday, work on integrating its traits into your character’s story. But as with many of the other aspects we’ve discussed in previous episodes, don’t force it. Some characters just do not have a place for festive levity in their daily lives. That said, do your best to support the existence of the event, even if it is your character’s denial of its usefulness. Never say, “This holiday is stupid, I’m going to ignore it in-character.”

That’ll bring this segment to a close. Remember, Hallow’s End, and any holiday for that matter, isn’t something that you should write off as being incapable of supporting roleplaying. Every event has its place, and all it takes is a creative mind and some patience to figure out how it best suits you.

Happy Halloween, folks. Stay safe out there this year.